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This research aimed at finding evidence of validity of criteria of a Cloze test for elementary school and identifying the reading level of the participants. 359 students from the 1st to 9 th years of public elementary school in the states of Parana and Sao Paulo participated. The Cloze test in its traditional version was collectively applied, where all fifth words are omitted. The text presented approximately 103 words and 15 omissions. The results indicated that as there is progress in the school year there is also a gradual increase in the Cloze test scores, and the difference between the school years was statistically significant. The discussion of the data points to the possibility of using the Cloze test as a measure to assess reading comprehension in elementary school students

Some researches have demonstrated that a lot of undergraduates do not have the desirable competence in reading and writing skills. The aim of this study is to verify, among undergraduates, the relations between reading comprehension and writing production. The participants were 134 freshmen studying in the humanities, exact and natural sciences. A traditional Cloze text was used and some texts written by the students were analyzed in order to evaluate the correction in the use of orthography, verb and subject agreement, according to the Portuguese Language standard. The results showed that the poorer the reading comprehension the bigger the number of mistakes in grammatical rules, therefore confirming the relation between reading comprehension and writing. The Cloze technique was useful to detect at what level the readers are, bringing elements for either eventual intervention programs or pedagogical practices of faculty members that want to help their students to develop linguistic skills.

The aim of this study was to search for evidence of convergent validity between Evaluation Scale of Difficulties in Learning to Write, the Word Recognition Scale and the Cloze Test. Linguistic abilities were assessed using these specific instruments and other variables were also investigated, from the school grade to the recognition of evidence of criterion validity. In addition, the quality of children´s mistakes with regard to the Cloze test was analyzed according to the Evaluation Scale of Difficulties in Learning to Write, which classified the children into groups with and without learning difficulties. The sample was composed of 266 elementary school children in public, private and Social Service for Industry schools in Sao Paulo. The results only permitted us to find evidence of criterion validity with Word Recognition at the grade level. The analysis of correlation between the means of Word Recognition and the Cloze test, using the Evaluation Scale of Difficulties in Learning to Write categories, also indicated significant differences, suggesting convergent validity amongst the instruments.

The importance of language and its formal instruction during the initial school phase has stimulated studies that seek options to implement them successfully. From this perspective, this study aimed to verify the effects of an intervention program on the language skills assessed. The participants were sixth-grade elementary school students evaluated in reading comprehension, spelling, word recognition and metatextual awareness. The intervention program was performed with 103 students, divided into experimental (EG) and control groups (CG). The experimental group attended 10 sessions, which included the use of gradual Cloze technique in texts of various textual genres, which were intended to develop the reading comprehension and the development of metatextual awareness. Analyses indicated the superiority of EG over the CG in the post-test. New studies are needed to permit the generalization of the results. Resumo: A importância da linguagem e de seu ensino formal durante a fase escolar inicial tem motivado estudos que procuram alternativas para implementá-las com sucesso. Sob essa perspectiva, o presente estudo objetivou verificar os efeitos de um programa de intervenção sobre as habilidades linguísticas avaliadas. Os participantes foram alunos do 6o ano do ensino fundamental, avaliados quanto à compreensão de leitura, à grafia, ao reconhecimento de palavras e à consciência metatextual. Foi realizado um programa de intervenção com 103 deles, separados em grupo experimental (GE) e de controle (GC). O grupo experimental participou de 10 sessões, usando a técnica de Cloze gradual em textos de gêneros textuais diversos, por meio dos quais pretendeu-se, além do desenvolvimento da compreensão de leitura, também o desenvolvimento da consciência metatextual. As análises indicaram superioridade do GE sobre o GC no pós-teste. Sugere-se a realização de novos estudos para permitir a generalização dos resultados. Resumen: La importancia del lenguaje y de su enseñanza formal durante la fase escolar inicial ha motivado estudios que buscan alternativas para implementarlas con éxito. Bajo esa perspectiva, este estudio tuvo como objetivo verificar los efectos de un programa de intervención en las habilidades lingüísticas evaluadas. Participaron estudiantes del sexto grado de la escuela primaria, evaluados respecto a la comprensión de lectura, la grafía, el reconocimiento de palabras y la consciencia metatextual. Se llevó a cabo un programa de intervención con 103 de ellos, divididos en grupos experimentales y de control. Los grupos experimentales participaron de 10 sesiones, que incluyeron el uso de la técnica de Cloze gradual en textos de géneros textuales diversos, con los que se pretendió, además del desarrollo de la comprensión lectora, también el desarrollo de la consciencia metatextual. Los análisis indicaron la superioridad del GE en comparación con el GC en el post-test. Se sugiere llevar a cabo nuevos estudios para permitir la generalización de los resultados.